My new (to me) camper
 

After buying a small pop up camper last summer (1987 Coachmen for $250), my wife and I decided we needed a larger camper, since we tend to take too many grandkids (we took 5 on our last trip out). Last week, I found the perfect pop up on Craigslist and gave them a call. The guy said another person was on there way to look at it and if they didn't buy it, I was next in line. Well, the other guy called. It also turns out that the other guy drives for the same small company as I do (what's the chance of that?). I talked to him and it turns out the camper he bought was way too big for him and he really wanted something smaller. So, yesterday we made a trade. I paid $600 for his, plus my smaller one went to him in the deal. While he was finishing the deal, one of the lift cables broke while closing it up. Then, as they was fighting it, a 2nd cable snapped. So, that's priority number one - rebuilding the lift system. Pretty sure I'm just going to pay an RV shop to do the job.

The rest of the camper is in pretty good shape.The interior is almost spotless and the exterior has a couple small issues on the plastic molded sections (mainly from someone backing into something with the rear bumper). From what I could see, the canvas is in really good condition, but was told there's a couple really small tears in a couple corners. This pop up is freaking huge. My old one weighed 880lbs empty. This one is 2,140lbs. I towed it with my S-10 Blazer with no issues, but I wouldn't want to pull it far. I can use dad's F-150 for that. The old camper was 10' closed. The new one is 21'. The old one had 2 full-size beds that pulled out. The new one has a king at one end and a queen at the other. Plus, there's 2 seats that make into 2 beds inside. The new one has a tri-power fridge and a stove/oven combo. The old one had a cooler that looked like a fridge and a stovetop. The old one had a 5 gallon freshwater tank. The new one has a 30 gallon tank, plus a 6 gallon hot water heater. To be honest, the only thing missing from the new one is a rooftop A/C unit (but it has the prep package installed).

The new camper is a 1994 Jayco Jay Cardinal 8 Designer Series. It's a tandem axle rig.

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It sounds like you got a good deal. I have owned a couple of RV's, but never a pop up. I would not mind having a pop up if I could find something like you did on the last trailer. A tandem also pulls much better than a single axle. My dad had a small single axle trailer and it was a real challenge to tow. Your new trailer should have room for all the grandkids.

I didn't go on the highway with it, just local 2-lane roads at maybe 45mph max. It tracked perfect, but because of the extra tongue weight, the Blazer had a little more front-end bounce. It's definitely not too much weight since the Blazer can handle 250lbs - I can pick up the tongue by hand, but it's at my limit. I'm estimating 125-150lbs. The old camper had a tongue weight of about 50lbs. Another thing to get used to on this one is the hydraulic surge brakes on it. Stopping/starting lets the camper 'move' front and back just enough to make you say "WTH just broke?"

The same camper as my new one, in good condition, is going for around $4,000-4,500 in general from what I've seen on the web. So, even if I have to put another $1,000 into it, it's still a great deal.

I never had problems pulling the tiny popup - backing was a different story though. Talk about something that'll jackknife on you quick - lol. The last time we camped with my old one, we pulled it with my dad's F-150. In a straight line, you couldn't see the camper whatsoever in any of the mirrors.

It sounds like you got a great deal on the new camper. A tandem is always easier to back than a single axle trailer. It is also easier to back a longer trailer than a short trailer. I think you will get a lot of enjoyment from the new trailer. I sometimes miss my old RV's.

Here's a great website for info and help and tech I used when I had a popup.

PopUpPortal - Index

Registered there last night :o

I love the surge brakes at times, other times I hate them with a passion. In the rain, I hate'em with a passion. My company has surge brakes on all the trailers that go behind the F350's. We call them dum-dum brakes because our dummies had electric brakes before and always had problems because they didn't know how to use them properly. The surge brakes are so simple, the main thing you need to do is make sure fluid is in the reservoir which you can do similar to a tug test. Pull forward at about 5-10 mph and hit the brakes, if it surges forward but doesn't stop you then your out of fluid probably.

$600, doesn't seem to bad a deal at all.

I went to the RV shop today to schedule to have it brought in. They can't take it until May 11th. I'm fine with that. But, I really wanted to see if there was any other work needing done, so my brother and I raised the roof on it today (it's blocked up with 2x4's on the inside). That thing looks almost 100% inside. The cushions are in great shape, the floor is rock solid and no issues with the cabinets at all. It doesn't look like it's ever had a water leak. The canvas has one hole in the bottom corner of one of the pull-outs (patched with tape) and on the back wall, which is almost completely 'open', the zippers have ripped apart from the clear vinyl. Again, duct tape.

Here's the photo's from today (slideshow on photobucket):
Camper V2 Slideshow by malaki86 | Photobucket

just so you know it doesn't stop. I'm already looking for an upgrade.....

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...sundane021.jpg

Trade straight up? LOL

Just took a REALLY close look at the roof on the camper. Looks like it's going to need some work, for sure. A couple of the support posts are coming off of the roof (1 bolt per column is all that holds it). Plus, the sidewall on the door side is bowed out pretty bad (looks like the roof dropped at one time and it bent it). The roof is bowed from a prior owner attaching some kind of carrier on top. Ughhh

Roof Slideshow by malaki86 | Photobucket

Is that your crib up on the hill homey?

It is when I go camping. Hate to tell you, but even though I'm in WV, I live in a house.

belpre is slurring his words again :p

I think he's referring to the house in the first photo at the top of the page.
Looks like construction going on next to it, or that outhouse means no indoor plumbing.
this is WV, soooooo....:roll3: :D

Oh - ok. That's a photo from the seller. I don't have a clue about anything about that house, but, ya, I could handle it, outhouse or not.

Ordered all the parts to get the lift system working again. I'll do the work myself. It's confusing at first, but definitely not out of my skill level. That'll get the camper in a usable state pretty quick.

I'm going to start designing a new roof for it. Pretty sure I can build a complete new one with an all-aluminum tubing frame, with new aluminum on the roof. My neighbor is an incredible aluminum welder - I watched him weld 2 coke cans together. It'll be stronger & lighter than the original. I also need to replace the canvas (the back wall's clear vinyl is torn from the zipper), but hoping that can wait at least a year. The complete canvas is just under $1,000, but it should last 15-20 years. The new roof will last that long, if not longer. The bottom of the camper is in fantastic condition.

I knew that I shouldn't have had that last shot of rotgut Hoggie!;)

That's okay m8tee ... you are so likable! :cool:
when I slur my words, people get really angry. :o oh you betcha eh... ****** ?

Wow, TIG or MIG?

Tig welder. He's just as good with a Mig.

Well, quick update:

I ordered all the parts to rebuild the lift system. Everything came in a couple of weeks ago, but one of the parts was wrong. Just got that delivered to the house on Monday. Yesterday, I had to come off the road because my wife is really sick. I didn't like what I found sitting in the back yard when I pulled in the driveway:

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...5-15151708.jpg

The camper roof was braced up with 2x4's inside while I was doing the work on it. Well, we've had some pretty good wind at home and the roof decided that it didn't want to stay on the 2x's any more. Luckily, for me, I was able to get inside and finish the repairs to the lift system. After that was done, it was actually really easy to put the roof back on, even by myself. At the back of the camper, there was a cabinet sitting on a bench seat, so that kept that end up. At the front, there was 1 2x4 left in place. So, I was able to basically just push it sideways and get it back into the support posts.

I still have to make adjustments to the roof, but that's pretty simple. And, yes, it's completely closed up now. Glad I did too - there was a pretty good storm here this morning.

While I was waiting on the parts, I checked everything else out on it. Everything works (stove, oven, furnace, water pump & water heater and the fridge). I'm going to have to replace the power converter because it's ultra-noisy and it's not charging the battery. The replacement for that isn't too bad price-wise (about $150), plus they're a lot better now. They have an automatic 'storage mode', which is basically a trickle charger for the battery. If you go in and start turning stuff on, it kicks back to the regular operation.

Hoping to be able to actually take it camping in the next couple of weeks!

That's pretty neat! And I had no idea Sunoco had their own fuel stations. We use their race fuel in motorcycles that we buy from the dealers/shops but I don't believe we have any actual Sunoco stations around here.

Remember that last photo I posted? The one with the roof laying on it's side? Well, I'm done with that camper. I had plans of spending Memorial Day weekend working on the camper. I had all the parts I needed to finish the job. That was until I finished the lift system and then having a cable snap, along with bending up some of the new parts the first time I raised the roof. The roof didn't want to lift high enough and I gave one extra "click" on the lift crank and "pop". So, I did what I should've done years ago - I went and bought camper in really good condition. Yes, it'll take me years to pay it off, but I don't care. I want to actually be able to use the camper instead of working on it nonstop.

Last Saturday (the day the camper did it's thing), I went to a local RV dealer and found a 2006 Forest River Shamrock 232 hybrid camper. A hybrid is a hardwall travel trailer with beds that fold out of it. Mine has 2 queen size beds that drop out of the ends, plus a slide on the side-wall. The slide is where the dinette is that makes into a full-size bed. There's also a couch that converts to a full-size bed. Everything works in it 100%.

My wife and I picked the camper up on Friday morning. When we went to get it, we had everything packed to go camping in the truck. We went directly from the RV dealer to a local state park for the weekend. It was great. Easy to set up, easy to take down.

Here's a link to the photo's I've already uploaded. All of the photo's are from the RV dealer lot. I have some of it set up, but haven't uploaded them yet. I'll post those in a bit.

Camper V3 Slideshow by malaki86 | Photobucket